A Christmas outing
by doc boy
Summary: This is a story of a single someone (Harry Potter) and his feelings for a certain girl as he decides to ask her out...


A Christmas outing

I do not own Harry Potter

He's been through a lot in life. He's escaped a brush with death more than once and fought off monsters of various kinds, so when it comes to danger and self-defense, he can be pretty resourceful. But one thing he was not so good at was courting girls and romance. His name was Harry Potter and he was in his sixth year at Hogwarts. For some time now, he had strong feelings for one of his classmates. Her name? Hermione Granger. She was a girl his age with brown eyes and brown bushy hair. Despite a gap between her front teeth, her smile made him melt and her laughter made him dizzy and lightheaded. They first met six years ago on their first trip to Hogwarts. At first, they didn't get along well, but after saving her life they became the best of friends. The years have gone by quickly, and before long, the hormones started to kick in and he began to see her as more than just a friend. Unfortunately, for him, she seemed oblivious to his increasingly frequent blushing when he was around her. But that was about to change…

Now Christmas lay ahead, and she and their friend Ron would be staying in the castle for the holiday. Harry wanted to ask her out for a Christmas outing but had trouble working up the nerve to do it. He sat in the common room sitting by the fire, looking rather tense. At some point Ron sat down beside him and opened his mouth to talk.

"You okay, mate?"

Harry jumped in a start and looked at him. He sighed with relief when he realized it was he who spoke.

"Yeah, I'm fine…" he said and sighed again.

"Still thinking about Hermione?" asked Ron and the two boys looked behind them to make sure she wasn't listening. Sure enough, she was sitting at the other side of the room, knitting hats for the house elves.

"Yeah. I want to ask her out for Christmas this weekend but I don't know where to… got any ideas?"

Ron thought for a minute.

"Why don't you go to the lake with her? You know she likes it when it's frozen…"

"I could but I don't want us to be outside in the cold for too long. At least not on a date…"

"I see. Well how about a snowball fight? She could learn how to have fun a little more often…"

"Maybe… I'll have to think about it…"

"You do that. Just don't beat yourself up, okay mate?" he said and clapped his friend on the back and got up.

Christmas day was two days away. On Christmas Eve the next night, the great hall was emptier than usual. The trio ate their holiday dinner with content and enjoyment. When their tummies were full and their appetites silenced, they headed back to the common room to relax for a bit. Hermione was sitting by the fire reading a book. Knowing he was almost out of time, Harry knew he had to act now. He approached her and sat down beside her.

"Hey Hermione." He said as he sat down. She closed her book, put it down, and smiled at him.

"Hey Harry, what's up?"

Harry still didn't know where he would ask her out to. It looks like he was about to play it by ear from here on.

"I'm okay. Listen I wanted to ask you something. Would you… Uh… do you think maybe you and I could uh…"

 _"Oh man this is hopeless… this is like trying to win a Quiddtich match during a storm… Quiddtich match… wait a minute! That's it…,"_ thought Harry as he was struck by inspiration. He gathered his courage and smiled warmly at her.

"Would you like to go with me to the three broomsticks tomorrow? My treat." He said with a smile and she smiled too.

"I'd love that."

"Great. So how does twelve o'clock sound to you?"

"Twelve o'clock is fine by me." She smiled and he smiled in return.

"Good. See you here tomorrow at noon." he said and got up and left. Once she was out of earshot, he let out a sigh of relief, glad he was able to ask her out without making a fool of himself, yet he wondered if she saw it as a date and not a friendly outing. Time will tell…

The next day, Harry came down to the common room early in the morning. After breakfast, he sat in the common room for a while waiting for the clock to strike twelve o'clock in the afternoon. Five minutes before it did, Hermione came downstairs and greeted him.

"Ready to go Harry?" she asked and he nodded.

"Yep." He said, put on his coat and they head out the portrait door.

Before long, they were crossing the school grounds and were heading towards Hogsmid. When they reached the small town's main road, it was mostly deserted. Once they reached their favorite pub, they walked in to find it completely empty.

"Looks like we have the place to ourselves today." said Harry.

"I'm fine with that." She said. They sat down, ordered a butter beer, and waited for it to arrive. But then they were consumed by an awkward silence.

After a while Hermione spoke.

"So… the three broomsticks huh?"

"Yeah. I thought it would be nice for us to hang out here. Just the two of us…"

"I was gonna ask you that. Is this a date or just a friendly outing?"

Harry was afraid this would be coming. He gulped and looked Hermione straight in the eye.

"Yes. It's a date," he said, just as the bartender put their drinks on the table. To his surprise, she smiled, but not without a small blush creeping on her face.

"What?" he asked.

"Oh nothing…" she said while looking away.

"You wouldn't be blushing if it would be nothing." pointed out Harry and took a sip out of his drink. Hermione squirmed a little, avoiding eye contact. She sighed.

"You didn't decide to ask me out as a spur of the moment thing, did you Harry?"

"No, I did not."

"How long have you been planning on it?"

"Since the beginning of the year."

She smirked.

"Funny. It took you long enough to realize it…"

"Realize what?" asked Harry, knowing that he probably knows the answer to that one.

"That I love you…" she said simply and looked up to meet his eyes.

"I've liked you mostly as a friend since we've met, but it soon developed into a crush. I haven't spoken to anyone about it. Around our fifth year, I realized I was in love with you but it didn't seem to be mutual. But now I know that it is. I've seen the way you act around me and look at me. I know you probably feel the same way…" she said and looked at him, but to her surprise, he was silent.

"Don't you?" she asked sounding a little hopeful and he smiled back.

"Oh yeah…" he said softly and his small with mirrored with her own.

"I'm glad." She said and placed her palm on his and leaned forward as he did the same, slowly they inched closer as their lips came into contact into a soft kiss. Almost as soon as it happened, it ended as they broke apart and looked at each other's eyes.

"Merry Christmas Hermione." he said with a smile, one that she returned.

"You too Harry. You too…" she said and kissed him again and rested in his arms.

 _"Next year and I'm definitely staying over for Christmas…"_ she thought happily, as she rested in his arms.

The end…

So there it is. Another Harry Potter story. Hope you like it. Also I'm aware that Harry and Hermione are a little out of character. I did that on purpose to make the story more entertaining. Anyway I hope you guys liked it.

Reviews are most welcome…

Peace out…


End file.
